Berlin security guards pushing refugees into prostitution: report

Security guards at Berlin shelters are encouraging refugees to go into prostitution, German public television has reported, sparking outrage with Berlin saying on Wednesday it was taking the allegations “very seriously”.

“We have to take this very seriously because it is totally unacceptable to exploit the material hardships that many refugees and migrants are in,” he told reporters at a regular press briefing.

“It would be morally reprehensible if they were forced into prostitution.” Elke Breitenbach, a Berlin official responsible for social affairs and integration, told ZDF that local authorities did not yet have any “concrete indications” of such cases.